U.S. pledges more aid to Ukraine for restive east

Thursday, July 07, 2016 - 00:58

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry promises more humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but warns that conflict will continue in the country's east unless all parties abide by the Minsk ceasefire agreement. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION).
The United States will provide nearly $23 million in additional humanitarian aid to help people affected by the crisis in eastern Ukraine, the Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Thursday (July 7).
The funding, announced during a joint press conference by Kerry and President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, will bring the total amount of U.S. humanitarian assistance to Ukraine to more than $135 million since the crisis began, according to a statement by the U.S.
But Kerry warned that the Minsk ceasefire agreement would be "doomed to fail" if violations continued in the east.
"Without real security in the Donbass, an end to the bloodshed on the contact line, the use of heavy weapons, blockading of the OSCE access, without that - Minsk is doomed to fail," said Kerry.
The U.S. official said talks on Thursday with Ukraine focused on reforms and the fragile ceasefire in the east, where Russian-backed separatists are fighting government forces.
The Minsk ceasefire agreement has failed to stop all fighting between Ukrainian government troops and the separatists in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile Ukraine is grappling with economic crisis and an ambitious Western-backed reform agenda, which has been slowed by a political crisis.
The peace deal was negotiated by Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in February 2015 and Ukraine and separatists have repeatedly accused the other side of failing to honor commitments made under the agreement.
Under the peace agreement, Ukraine has pledged to hold local elections in eastern regions and pass a law granting them greater autonomy. But Kiev has said it cannot implement these points until all fighting subsides and it has full control of eastern borders with Russia.

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